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Welcome to the Alley Theatre
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he Mission of the Alley Theatre’s Educa on and Community Engagement programs is to apply theatre prac ce in a wide range of community contexts — to use the prac ce of theatre to strengthen and promote the interpersonal goals of our community partners; to provide a vehicle for meaningful community discourse; to create the most advanced training ground for emerging theatre ar sts; and to become a driving force for arts educa on within our schools.
Our Core Values:
Empathy and collabora on through the prac ce of theatre
Service to our community by teaching our art form in mul ple se ngs
Innova on and quality in our prac ce
Excellence in developing exemplary replicable na onally recognized programming
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Our Partners in Education Foundation Ray C. Fish Founda on George and Mary Josephine Hamman Founda on William E. and Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Trust Na onal Corporate Theatre Fund Hearst Crea ve Impact Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ Immanuel & Helen B. Olshan Founda on, Inc. The Powell Founda on Kinder Founda on Baby Dinosaurs in Staging STEM at the Play Makers Summer Camp, 2013
Robert W. & Pearl Wallis Knox Charitable Founda on Lillian Kaiser Lewis Founda on William Randolph Hearst Founda on
Government Texas Commission on the Arts/Educa on TCA/Public Safety/Criminal Jus ce Harris County Department of Educa on
Corporation Boeing Deloi e Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. Macy's Marathon Oil Company Parker Drilling Company Shell Oil Company United Airlines
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Education at the Alley Theatre
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he Alley Theatre is firmly commi ed to the idea that par cipa on in the arts and arts integra on in educa on is more than enriching — it is essen al!
Studies have illustrated that students who study the arts are more ac ve in community affairs, assume leadership roles, are more likely to par cipate in math or science fairs and have increased self‐esteem and confidence.
Addi onally, research has demonstrated that what students learn in the arts helps them to succeed in other subjects and promotes skills that are vital to the future workforce. But developing a love of theatre is a progressive process, requiring sustained exposure. Arts Educa on:
Improves cri cal literacy skills for all learners
Sparks curiosity and fosters personal growth
Celebrates diversity and cultural heritage
Encourages crea vity and cri cal thinking
Inspires civic par cipa on
Senior Summer Conservatory Performance, 2013
Become a School PARTNER Becoming an Alley Partner provides teachers with a valuable outside resource that augments exis ng curriculum. School partnerships are tailored to meet individual school needs and can involve par cipa on in mul ple programs. Students and educators par cipate in observing plays. They discuss the characters and language. They take part in playmaking, theatre design and produc on workshops with guest teaching ar sts and with each other. Together, the school and the Alley design an experience to suit your teaching needs and address the students’ needs. If you are bringing students to a performance of A Christmas Carol ‐ A Ghost Story of Christmas please consider scheduling a pre‐ or post‐performance workshop for your group or classes. To check availability, please contact Educa on and Community Engagement at 713.228.9341 or at educa on@alleytheatre.org. This teacher guide includes eight lesson plans. The first and last ones are the most essen al in order to prepare students for the play and to help them process the experience. We have included TEKS sugges ons here for your convenience. Please adjust the lesson plans for A Christmas Carol to suit the needs of your classroom.
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What to Bring to the Theatre Please discuss the “live” qualities of theatre with your students before attending a performance at the Alley Theatre.
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heatre is very public and it happens before a live audience. This makes each performance as unique as the group of people who gather as a community to see and hear it. In the theatre, the audience affects the performance. An engaged, a en ve and enthusias c audience will get a be er performance from the cast and crew than a disrup ve audience. People play games, text, surf the Internet and watch television in private. They can also stop and rewind a program or a clip if needed, not so in the theatre. Therefore, there are different expecta ons of you and your students when you step into a theatre. So here are some general guidelines that anyone new to the theatre should know. (Teachers don’t expect that all of your students will know this e que e, so please go over these common sense rules.)
All electronic devices must be turned off upon entering our theatre, especially cell phones, portable gaming devices, and MP3 players. These items produce noise that is distrac ng to others and interferes with our equipment. (IF POSSIBLE, LEAVE BACKPACKS WITH CELLPHONES ON THE BUS OR LOCKED IN THE CAR.)
The use of recording or photo equipment of any kind is not permi ed in the theatre before, during or a er the performance.
Food and drink are never allowed in our theatre, even for the evening performances.
Applause is used to acknowledge the performers and to voice apprecia on or approval. Dimming the lights on the stage and bringing up the house lights usually signals intermission. A curtain call in which the cast returns to the stage for bows follows a performance. Applause can erupt naturally from an engaged audience: this is great.
We welcome genuine reac ons to the work on stage. However, conversa ons and discussions must wait un l intermission or a er the curtain call.
Visi ng the theatre should be an entertaining ac vity but it is also one that requires considera on for fellow audience members, as well as the actors on stage.
THANK YOU!
Connections:
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How is a ending a play different from going to the movies?
How should you react to any loud noises during the play?
Why is it so important to not talk during a play?
What to bring to the theatre:
RESPECT CURIOSITY QUESTIONS WONDER CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS
What to leave behind:
CELL PHONES FOOD ATTITUDE JUDGEMENT DISRESPECT OF OTHERS
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INTRODUCTION:
“May it haunt their houses pleasantly” — Charles Dickens
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A Christmas Carol Front cover. www.commons.wikimedia.org
o other book or story by Charles Dickens has been more widely received, cri cized, alluded to or more frequently adapted to other media. Some scholars have even claimed that in publishing A Christmas Carol, Dickens single handedly invented the modern form of the Christmas holiday in England and the United States. As G.K. Chesterton noted long ago, with A Christmas Carol Dickens succeeded in transforming Christmas from a sacred fes val into a family feast. In so doing, he brought the holiday inside the home and thus made it accessible to ordinary people, who were now able to par cipate directly in the celebra on rather than merely witnessing its performance in church. Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in the 1840s. These were years of famine in Ireland and severe economic depression worldwide. Dickens knew and understood the effects of poverty, and by having Scrooge no ce homeless mothers huddled in doorways at the end of the first Stave, he was wri ng from his own observa on and experience. So today, A Christmas Carol, along with other works by Dickens, con nues to direct a en on to the problems of homelessness and economic injus ce on our very doorsteps. In focusing on such ques ons, Dickens is a writer for all historical periods, including our own.
The major change that Dickens made in 1843 when he revised his earlier tale was to transform its central character from a member of the working class into a wealthy businessman, thereby introducing a different and considerably more "radical" social message into the story. Nevertheless, the basic situa on in the two stories is quite similar. Both Gabriel Grubb and Ebenezer Scrooge are spoilsports. That is, each refuses to join and par cipate in the communal fes val or sacred "sport" of Christmas. In both stories the spoilsport receives supernatural visitors who instruct him in the human values appropriate to the Christmas season, and in both stories the spoilsport undergoes a conversion that reunites him with the spirit of community and fellowship. Moreover, a child or group of children plays an important role in the redemp ve process in both stories. Reac ons to A Christmas Carol have varied tremendously over the years, with each genera on finding in it a message ‐ spiritual, psychological or poli cal ‐ applicable to the needs of different audiences. Clearly the Carol is an ideological work, both in and for our own me. The enormous success of its mul ple adapta ons tes fies to its enduring value as a marketable commodity. Ostensibly its message is one that decries the commercialism of a debased Christmas celebra on. Ironically, the story itself con nues to be bought and sold, packaged and repackaged to meet an apparently inexhaus ble demand (while Dickens himself made li le money from A Christmas Carol). In the end, it may not ma er that A Christmas Carol has been commercialized, since its story of the strength of community and the power of love is not lost in buying and selling.
“Reac ons to A Christmas Carol have varied tremendously over the years, with each genera on finding in it a message ‐ spiritual, psychological, or poli cal ‐ applicable to the needs of different audiences.” ― John O. Jordan, Dickens Electronic Archive 8
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
THE LOW DOWN: A CHRISTMAS CAROL
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ondon, Christmas Eve 1843. For some, it is a me for celebra on. For others, like Ebenezer Scrooge, it’s a waste of me and money. Charity and good will?
Bah Humbug! Scrooge, a miser and despiser of the cheerful holiday season, gets a reality check when he receives a visit from the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley. Bound in an immense chain of padlocks and cashboxes, Marley warns Scrooge that he is doomed to follow the same fate as Marley upon his death if he doesn’t change his ways. Marley then warns Scrooge of yet another fate — the approaching appearance of three spirits. Dressed in a ghoulish gown, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge and takes him on a painful tour of his unpleasant childhood, from his fall from favor with his father, to the loss of his fiancée. Christmas Past then shows Scrooge his surprisingly happier memories, such as when an employee showed Scrooge how wonderful Christmas can be. But the miserly Scrooge is unmoved. Back at home, a ra led Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present who shows him that the holiday fes vi es go on without him: the soulful family gathering of the poor Cratchits and the wild party at his nephew Fred’s remind him of what he’s missing. Furthermore, Christmas Present warns Scrooge that without money, the Cratchits’ youngest and most hope‐filled member, Tiny Tim, will die. The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge the world a er his own death. Not only will his only friends not mourn his death but, for lack of Scrooge’s charity, Tiny Tim will also perish. Scrooge awakens the next morning not only laughing and celebra ng, but is anxious as he can be to splurge on his neighbors. For the Cratchits, he buys a large Christmas dinner and offers to give their father a pay raise to pay for Tiny Tim’s health needs. He forgives those in the streets who owe him money, sings in church, and is finally visited by his nephew, Fred, wherein Scrooge begs forgiveness and requests a place at the Christmas dinner table. And with that, Scrooge becomes best‐known for his immense love of the holiday.
Declan Mooney as Mr. Marvel in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol — A Ghost Story of Christmas, 2012. Photo by Mike McCormick.
(L‐R) Jay Sullivan as Fred and Jeffrey Bean as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol — A Ghost Story of Christmas, 2012. Photo by Mike McCormick.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
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THE MAN WHO BROUGHT CHRISTMAS BACK
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Charles Dickens, 1858. Photo by George Herbert Watkins.
“With A Christmas Carol, Dickens succeeded in transforming Christmas from a sacred fes val into a family feast. In so doing, he brought the holiday inside the home and thus made it accessible to ordinary people, who were now able to par cipate directly in the celebra on rather than merely witnessing its performance in church.” ̶ G.K Chesterson, Dickens Scholar, Introduc on to “A Christmas Carol”
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n October of 1843, when he started to write A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens was, at 31, the successful author of Sketches by Boz, The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, and American Notes. On February 7, 1812, he was born into a struggling lower‐middle class family in Portsmouth, England. When he was 10, Dickens's father, a navy clerk, moved the family to a smaller house in Camden Town, London. The four‐room house at 16 Bayham Street is supposedly the model for the Cratchits' house. The six Cratchit children correspond to the six Dickens children at that me, including Dickens's youngest brother, a sickly boy, known as "Tiny Fred.” Even with the move to London, his family could not afford to send Dickens to school, and instead he was free to explore the urban neighborhoods around him. When he was 12, his father found work for him in a factory, and he boarded with another family. Soon a erward, his father was imprisoned for debt, and the whole family moved to the Marshalsea debtors' prison except for Charles, who kept working. He felt abandoned and ashamed of this experience for the rest of his life, and although he fic onalized it in his novels, during his life he told the truth to only one person, his friend and biographer John Forster. Dickens was later sent back to school, but when his parents could again no longer afford to pay for their son's educa on, he found work first as an office boy in a law firm, and then in 1835, as a newspaper reporter. He taught himself shorthand and soon was known as the fastest and most accurate parliamentary reporter in the city. While working as a reporter, Dickens began wri ng semi‐fic onal sketches sa rizing daily life, eventually publishing them as Sketches by Boz. His next work was The Pickwick Papers, which was published in a rela vely new serial format and helped to establish him as a successful writer at the age of 24. A er Pickwick, all of his subsequent books, un l A Christmas Carol, were first sold in serial form. In 1837, Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, a cri cism of the exploita on of child labor. In 1842, Dickens made a trip to the United States where he campaigned for the aboli on of slavery. Upon his return to England, he wrote American Notes, in which he condemns the hypocrisy regarding labor laws that began in England and spread to the United States. A Christmas Carol was wri en during a me in England when Christmas tradi ons were in decline. The overarching themes of goodwill and compassion in the story did much to enhance the importance of the holiday and inspired great nostalgia for Christmas in England. The popular celebra on of the holiday took a sharp upward swing a er the publica on of the novel in 1843. Finishing only one more novel (Our Mutual Friend, 1864‐5), Dickens died in England on June 9, 1870. Buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey in London, he le behind an unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dickens enjoyed immense popularity in his life me and was then best known for his effec veness as a cri c of contemporary society. He was par cularly effec ve in his efforts to reform child labor laws in England, due in no small part to his personal experience as a boy working in a factory. Now, he is perhaps best remembered as TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies the author of A Christmas Carol. TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
DID YOU KNOW… ?
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ther novels by Charles Dickens include:
The Pickwick Papers · Oliver Twist · Nicholas Nickleby · The Old Curiosity Shop Barnaby Rudge · Mar n Chuzzlewit · Dombey and Son · David Copperfield Bleak House · Hard Times · Li le Dorrit · A Tale of Two Ci es Great Expecta ons · Our Mutual Friend · The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Dickens’ novel The Old in Curiosity Shop, published
In June 1865, Dickens performed an heroic deed when he rescued passengers from the Staplehurst
1841, experienced dented worldwide rece unp hype unmatched by any book until Harry Potter.
a ny ed m s nam is n e k e ft r h Dic ren a child g his n o m of his A thors. ite au Alfred favor were n e r ild enry h c 0 s, 1 n H Dicke n so y s and Tenn icken ing D Field lwar rd Bu E d wa ns. k Dic e Lyton
kens” the Dic “What lot,” “a mean, used to ke the li rt u h at h ve as in, “t ight ha s.” It m en k ic d devil. rd o w om the come fr
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
Rail Crash.
Dickens is the only e author who has a them cy. lega his to ted devo park , Dickens World in Chatham pe’s England, contains Euro longest indoor ride, the “Great Expectations” long flume and the Haunted
House of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Dickens may have had Obsessive Com pulsive Disord er. His habits in cluded arranging fu rniture north to south, touchi ng objects th ree times for good luck and combing his hair hundre ds of times a da y.
Dickens belie ved that a human could die from spon taneous human com bustion .
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THE TWO FACES OF DICKENS
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harles Dickens was an outgoing, playful man who loved games and par es. The act of wri ng A Christmas Carol affected him profoundly. During its composi on, he wrote a friend that he, "wept and laughed, and wept again, and excited himself in a most extraordinary manner in the composi on; and thinking whereof he walked about the black streets of London fi een and twenty miles many a night when all the sober folks had gone to bed."
“Those who engage with his legacy Despite Dickens's frequent cri cism of organized religion and religious dogma, he loved ng Christmas. Of the Christmas following the publica on of A Christmas Carol, encounter many celebra Dickens wrote in a le er, "Such dinings, such dancings, such conjurings, such blind‐ man's bluffings, such theatre‐goings, such kissings‐out of old years and kissings‐in of different versions of new ones never took place in these parts before. To keep Chuzzlewit going, and to do le book, the Carol, in the odd mes between two parts of it, was, as you may him: the republican, this li suppose, pre y ght work. But when it was done I broke out like a madman, and if you the mesmerist, the could have seen me at a children's party at Macready's the other night going down a country dance with Mrs. M you would have thought I was a country gentleman of sen mentalist, the independent property residing on a p‐top farm, with the wind blowing straight in my ve who was a guest at his New Year's Eve party that year and protector of orphans, face every day." A rela described the performance by Dickens and his best friend. "Dickens and Forster above all exerted themselves ll the perspira on was pouring down and they seemed drunk the lover of circuses, with their efforts. Only think of that excellent Dickens playing the conjurer for one the despairing father.” whole hour‐the best conjurer I ever saw." — Henry Hitchings, Great Contradic ons
On the other hand, on January 15, 1844, Charles and Catherine's son Francis Jeffery was born. Dickens's biographer Peter Ackroyd (1990) points out the irony that one month a er the publica on of A Christmas Carol, which glorifies the family and especially the pi ful Tiny Tim, Dickens's feelings for his own youngest child were more Scroogish than Cratchity. Dickens wrote a friend, "Kate is all right again, and so they tell me is the Baby. But I decline, (on principle), to look at the la er object." When the Dickens family le for Italy in July, they le the baby in England with his maternal grandmother.
A er A Christmas Carol, Dickens wrote another "Christmas book," The Chimes, for Christmas 1844. Dickens wrote three more Christmas books and many Christmas stories. He edited two magazines, Household Words and All the Year Round, which published annual "Christmas numbers" for which he wrote and edited stories. Wri ng about Christmas and, later, giving readings from Carol were important sources of income for Dickens for the rest of his life. It is possible that Dickens some mes regre ed this relentless associa on with the holiday. In a le er to his daughter Mamie, he wrote that he felt as if he "had murdered a Christmas a number of years ago, and its ghost perpetually haunted me."
CONNECTIONS:
While growing up, Dickens’s family resembled the Cratchits, but he acted more Scrooge‐like as a father to his own children. What were your expecta ons of Dickens as the writer of such a heart‐warming tale of A Christmas Carol?
How do those assump ons contrast with who Dickens was in real life?
Do you think Dickens was a Bob Cratchit or a Scrooge?
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Relate him to the character you think he most resembles.
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
FROM MICKEY MOUSE TO KLINGON: THE UNIVERSALITY OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL
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harles Dickens le behind only one manuscript of A Christmas Carol. The manuscript is nearly impossible to follow because of revisions he made to get the story right. Within the introductory remarks wri en in December, 1843, he modestly refers to his story as, “a li le book”– which became one of the most enduring holiday tales ever wri en.
The first stage adapta on of A Christmas Carol was performed in London in January 1844. Numerous other versions followed. However, Dickens supported only one of these versions in his life me. He had run into a plethora of piracy problems with his book, but rather than take legal ac on against the unauthorized versions, he decided to at least make some money out of them. By late 1844, there were about 16 produc ons which took place in New York and London in an cipa on of the holidays. Today, adapta ons on stage, screen, and radio are performed throughout the world as a Christmas holiday tradi on. Some famous Scrooges include Alaster Sim, Sir Ralph Richardson, George C. Sco , Jim Cary and Donald Duck.
A Klingon Christmas Carol at Commedia Beauregard. Photo by Sco Pakudai s, 2008.
In the last 25 years alone there have been over 300 versions produced in many forms and fashions. From Jim Henson’s The Muppets and a Dr. Who Christmas Special to a Hollywood parody, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, it seems there are few adapta ons le untold. There is even a Star Trek version of the Carol.
Why is A Christmas Carol such a universal tale that it can even be understood through the Star Trek language of Klingon? Dickens believed it to be simply the play’s associa on with the holiday that made it so popular. But is there more to it? Teri Downward, a Denver‐based writer on the arts, describes it simply, “If an old toad like Scrooge can be redeemed, there may be hope for this world yet.”
Perhaps it is the hope for the good of humanity that we see in Scrooge’s ul mate transforma on that keeps us clamouring for yet another adapta on. Downward con nues, “We are grateful for second chances. We even embrace them. A Christmas Carol is a year‐end reminder of all that we are and all that we can be.” The story inspires us to turn inward and iden fy the Scrooge‐like behaviours within ourselves so we may have the opportunity in the coming year to change them. Read more at Denver Center Stage Blog or Watch A Christmas Carol performed in Klingon
“In the last 25 years alone there have been over 300 versions of A Christmas Carol produced in many forms or fashions.” ̶ Teri Downward, Why Do We Love A Christmas Carol
CONNECTIONS: Brainstorm and write out the main plot points and characters of A Christmas Carol. Create a second list of poten al styles or themes; i.e. Western, Aliens, Dracula, etc. Divide the students into groups and have them decide on a style in which they will tell their own five‐minute version of the tale of A Christmas Carol. Once the students have rehearsed their plays, have each group perform them for the rest of the class. Once all of the adapta ons have been shared, analyze what common elements from the original A Christmas Carol were used in the class’ adapta ons. Finally, discuss why the students believe the story is such a universal tale by reflec ng on their own experience in developing an adapta on. TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
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A SPOOKTACULAR STORY OF CHRISTMAS
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The Company in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol — A Ghost Story of Christmas, 2012. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
f course, many of us are skep cal of the existence of ghosts. So is Scrooge, at first, who tries to dismiss Marley’s ghost as a byproduct of indiges on: “There’s more of gravy than of grave about you.” And many theatrical ghosts can be read as figments of characters’ imagina ons. In fact, some of the most interes ng decisions that directors and designers make in pu ng ghosts on stage have to do with how “real” they are: Who can see them? Can they interact with objects on the set? A produc on of Macbeth where we see the bloody ghost of Banquo is very different from one where we, like his guests, watch Macbeth become completely unnerved by empty space. And if we do see ghosts on stage, the costume and ligh ng designers have interes ng ques ons to answer: What do they look like? How supernatural or how normal do they appear? Our Christmas Carol ghosts are not designed to be overly scary. A er all, this is a show that’s enjoyed by audiences of all ages. But they certainly are otherworldly appari ons. People are naturally fascinated by the ques on of what lies beyond death. And many of us enjoy a spooky story now and then. As long as those things are true, ghost stories will con nue to be popular. We hope you enjoy the Alley’s Yule de Spirits. Not only is A Christmas Carol one of the most beloved holiday stories of all me, it is also, as Dickens’s sub tle reminds us, one of the most beloved ghost stories of all me. It is not necessarily a natural combina on. The ghosts, a er all, have their own holiday just a bit earlier in the year. A er October 31, they get packed away with the bats and spiders and witches, leaving November and December to the angels, elves, and reindeer. But not in A Christmas Carol, where Dickens mixes spirits both fes ve and macabre. In our produc on, we at the Alley Theatre embrace the ghostly nature of this story. Ghost stories have been part of popular culture for decades and there is a long tradi on of ghosts on the stage, as well. No fewer than five of Shakespeare’s plays feature ghostly characters (Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, Julius Caesar and Cymbaline). In fact, Shakespeare himself took to the stage as the Ghost in Hamlet. Hamlet’s ghosts are generally vengeful spirits, returned from the dead to bring down their enemies from life. But not all theatre ghosts are such dark figures. Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit features a ghost whose haun ng produces comical rather than tragic results. More recent plays such as David Auburn’s Proof and Neil Simon’s Rose’s Dilemma have more benevolent ghosts who are more interested in helping the living characters than wreaking vengeance. Our Christmas Carol ghosts draw on both tradi ons. Marley and Christmas Future, at least, are fearsome figures and there’s an element of punishment in the ordeal to which all the spirits subject Ebenezer Scrooge. But ul mately we know that they have the miser’s best interests at heart.
Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Inven on of the Human, 1998
CONNECTIONS: John Feltch as Jacob Marley in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol — A Ghost Story of Christmas, 2012. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Ask your students why they think people like ghost stories. Do they have favorite ghost stories themselves?
Our Christmas Carol ghosts draw on the English se ng of Dickens’s story. In addi on to Marley and the three Christmas Ghosts, there is a chorus of ghosts represen ng famous figures or periods in English history, including: Mary Stuart, The Restora on, Medieval England, Henry V, Anne Bonny, and The Sco sh border wars.
Have your students research these periods and try to iden fy the ghosts in the produc on. Or have them come up with a similar list of ghosts for an American ghostly chorus. What would those ghosts look like?
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TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
THE 12 MONTHS OF CHRISTMAS
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he Cratchit family was modeled a er Dickens’s own family growing up. While the ‘good will and generosity’ of Christmas‐ me certainly can improve the lives of those in need for those few winter days, it is likely that Dickens would have wished the spirit of giving to con nue beyond December 25. Perhaps then his own family would have been a bit more comfortable throughout the year rather than in the short amount of me when others were willing to help. Dickens writes of Christmas as a me in which “Pe y jealousies and discords are forgo en; social feelings are awakened in the bosoms to which they have long been strangers.” How can we spread Christmas spirit all year round?
ACTIVITY:
Pigeon Coming Back From Outer Space by Frits Ahlefeldt. www.publicdomainpictures.net
Split students into groups of four. Give them five minutes to share their own Christmas family or community tradi on that involves giving their me to help someone else. Each student has one minute to share their tradi on with the rest of the group. Within the group, have the students choose which person’s tradi on could most easily be repeated throughout the year. Using the chosen tradi on, the students in the group now create a scene in which they play out the tradi on in the following sequence. First they create a frozen image with their bodies that depicts the ac on of actually helping others in that tradi on. Then they form a second and third frozen image, one that highlights the par cular posi ve feeling the people have while helping others, and the third image depicts that tradi on and the feeling together but outside of a Christmas context. The students in each group create one line of dialogue for each character in each image. The groups show these images to each other, the audience of students can unfreeze one character at a me to hear their line of dialogue. Ask the student audience to reflect on each image by asking ques ons:
Image 1: What is happening in this image? Image 2: What par cular emo on is depicted in this image? Image 2: What new context for this tradi on has been created in the final picture? If there are mul ple opinions among the students when answering the ques ons, it is a great opportunity for them to discuss their different percep ons of the images presented. By the end of this process, the students should have come up with many different ways to extend their Christmas spirit and joy to other mes of the year.
“A Christmas Carol demonstrates that, even in the face of such poverty and despera on, the winter holiday can inspire good will and generosity, that the spirit of Christmas need not be lost in an industrialized city, but can be a shaping factor in the modern world.” ̶ Teri Downward, Why Do We Love A Christmas Carol
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
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THE BACKDROP
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Photo of matchgirls par cipa ng in a strike against Bryant & May, London 1888 ‐ Anonymous
hen A Christmas Carol was published in 1843, Queen Victoria had been on the throne for six years and was to reign for 58 more. Ci es and towns were growing and expanding all over England, with fewer and fewer people living in rural areas. The complete lack of sanita on in these large urban areas led to widespread disease and high mortality rates. Child labor was s ll common, although a law had been passed in 1833 forbidding the employment of children under the age of 9 and limi ng working hours for children aged 9 to 18 to 10 hours a day; however, it wasn’t un l the mid‐1840s that this law was recognized and obeyed. The Educa on Act, which made it mandatory for every child to a end school, was not passed un l 1870, which meant most children in 1843 had no formal educa on. With widespread disease, lack of educa on and li le child labor legisla on, it is not surprising that in 1839 nearly half of the funerals in London were for children under the age of 10. The average life expectancy among adults was 27 and among members of the working class, as low as 22. Between November and December 1847, 500,000 people (one fourth of the total popula on) were infected with typhus, and 53,293 died of cholera in 1849. Other common and fatal diseases were scarlet fever, smallpox, diphtheria and typhoid. Convicts were s ll being transported by boat to Australia and would be un l the prac ce was abolished in 1855. Capital punishment was legal and hangings were frequent public affairs. Dickens played a part in changing the law regarding capital punishment, but it was 1863 before any legisla on was amended. England led the world industrially and its rule spread to places including Canada, India and Australia. On the home front, railroad building had begun in 1825; six years later 5,000 miles of railroad were laid throughout the country. Railroads opened up the country and enabled people to migrate to the larger ci es in search of work, causing overcrowding in ci es like London. The Cratchits in A Christmas Carol represent such lower‐middle class families. Although Mr. Scrooge has become the most remembered character from the story, Dickens’s first readers were probably intended to iden fy with the Cratchit family. In fact, Dickens modeled the Cratchits' lifestyle on his own childhood experience. In 1850, there were approximately 20,000 homeless roaming the streets of London. Unemployment was high and, in 1867, a London newspaper es mated that there were 100,000 ci zens living by criminal ac vity. A Christmas Carol demonstrates that, even in the face of such poverty and despera on, the winter holiday can inspire good will and generosity, that the spirit of Christmas need not be lost in an industrialized city, but can be a shaping factor in the modern world.
Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, Woodcut by John Leech, Illustrator of A Christmas Carol, 1843.
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TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Bedlam ‐ a notorious madhouse in London which no longer exists. Benevolence ‐ charitable good nature. Cantankerous ‐ ill‐tempered or quarrelsome. Colliery ‐ a coal mine. Debtor’s prison ‐ jail for those guilty of borrowing money which they cannot repay. Forbearance ‐ tolerance or pa ence. Foreclosure ‐ a legal proceeding by which property is repossessed by a financial Ins tu on. For fied ‐ strengthened or secured. Gump on ‐ boldness or enterprise. Homage ‐ public honor or respect paid to a person or idea. Miser ‐ a greedy person who hoards money. Odious ‐ offensive or repugnant. Parliament ‐ legisla ve body of the United Kingdom. Penury ‐ extreme poverty. Shilling ‐ Bri sh currency coin. Smallpox ‐ an infec ous viral disease characterized by chills, high fever and headaches with subsequent erup ons of pimples. U litarian ‐ pertaining to or associated with u lity or usefulness. Wages ‐ payment for services. Workhouses ‐ public ins tu ons for the indigent, where residents are required to earn their keep through hard labor projects.
Bri sh Parliament, Photo by Craig Zaduck. www.flickr.com
Debtor’s Prison, Photo by Virginia Travis. www.flickr.com
Hull Royal Infirmary part of the Bri sh Na onal Health Services, which was previously a workhouse built in Victorian mes, Photo by Peter Church. www.flickr.com
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
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WHO’S WHO? Ebenezer Scrooge A crotchety and wealthy businessman who wants nothing to
(L‐R) Jeffrey Bean as Ebenezer Scrooge and John Feltch as Mrs. Dilber in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas, 2012. Photo by Mike McCormick.
do with Christmas. Jacob Marley Scrooge’s deceased business partner who pays Scrooge an unwelcome visit on Christmas Eve. In life, he had been just as greedy and ill‐natured as Scrooge. Bob Cratchit Scrooge’s clerk. Cratchit is struggling financially, but his large and loving family fills his life with cheer. Tiny Tim Cratchit’s youngest son who suffers from perpetual illness. Despite his physical ailments, Tim’s joyful a tude brings happiness to all he meets. Fred Scrooge’s nephew. Although Scrooge rejects him, Fred refuses to be discouraged by his grumpy uncle and con nues to invite him to holiday celebra ons. Belle Scrooge’s former fiancée who breaks off their engagement when she sees that Scrooge’s love of money replaces the love he once held for her. Mr. Fezziwig Scrooge’s former employer who throws a lavish holiday celebra on each Christmas season. Mrs. Dilber Scrooge’s long‐suffering housekeeper. Mary Pidgeon A seller of an que dolls who owes Scrooge money she cannot pay. Bert A food vendor who sells cider, nuts, candies, fruit and other treats with his two child assistants. He also owes Scrooge money he cannot pay. Mr. Marvel An inventor who, like Mary and Bert, owes Scrooge money he cannot pay. The Ghost of Christmas Past This spirit shows Scrooge memories of his past Christmases, including both joyful and painful experiences. The Ghost of Christmas Present This magnanimous spirit takes Scrooge on a tour of all the fes vi es surrounding the present holiday season from which Scrooge has separated himself. The Ghost of Christmas Future This ominous spirit shows Scrooge the bleak world which will occur a er Scrooge’s own death.
ACTIVITY: Create family trees for the characters in A Christmas Carol. Is there any overlap between the various families? In the Alley Theatre’s produc on, the Ghosts (Marley, Past, Present, and Future) are played by various people in Scrooge’s life. How do these characters interact with the three you just created?
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TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited ... a good me; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant me; the only me I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut‐up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow‐passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” ― Fred, A Christmas Carol
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL WORD CLOUD: CONTEXT AND THEME
CONNECTIONS:
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In small groups or pairs, have students select a word they wonder about and actually look it up.
Discuss any surprising applica ons for this word. Discuss the origin of the word.
Discuss as a class some of the vocabulary words and how they apply to today’s current events.
Have students look at the Word Cloud and brainstorm what they think the play might be about. TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading
THEMES: COMMERCIALISM AT CHRISTMAS
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hat Scrooge truly misses out on each Christmas is the me spent with his friends and family. The focus of Christmas has, for many, become preparing to stand outside a superstore at 5 a.m. on Black Friday and trampling other shoppers to grab the best deals before they disappear. While it is s ll important for children to sense the specialness of the day when they open their presents on Christmas morning, there are ways to provide a life‐long memory without priori zing consumerism over the much more important communal aspect of the holiday.
Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol as a reminder of the truly important tradi ons that keep Christmas a meaningful me. Scrooge has spent every previous Christmas working in order to con nue earning and amassing money. Once he is transformed, he realizes there is more enjoyment and fulfillment out of spending me with his family at Fred’s home and giving Bob Cratchit the me off work to spend with his own family.
The following are some ideas to help children appreciate Christmas as more than simply a me of receiving gi s. “[F]ill the season with non‐material things youngsters can equate with loving and being loved:
Target™ Black Friday, 2009. Photo by Gridprop. www.commons.wikimedia.com
Cookie baking in a fragrant kitchen with all hands helping. A picnic supper in the living room with Christmas stories and songs in the so tree glow. Make a family snowman with hot chocolate a erwards. Quiet bed me cuddles with talk of what the holiday really means.
It's also important to make the gi ‐giving something children do too. Delicious conspiracies about who can make what for whom help to keep "Tickle Me Elmo" in proper perspec ve and give a richness to the holiday that no designer Barbie clothes can match.
Children who are helped to become par cipants in the making of Christmas rather than just receivers of toys are rarely upset for very long when they find out that Santa Claus is just a jolly old myth. For they are able to realize that, "We have seen the real Santa Claus and he is us."
Joan Beck, Pu ng the Spirit of ‘Giving’ Back Into Christmas
CONNECTIONS:
Have the students write out all their favorite things about Christmas. Then ask them to make a list of these in order of importance to them.
Discuss whether material goods were at the top of the list or interspersed throughout. Create another list that connects each material item to a par cular memory from Christmases past. Discuss how we tend to immediately remember the thing itself as opposed to the more significant memory behind it.
What kind of meaning does that memory or experience provide that helps us connect with that item? Is it the material good that’s important or is it the memory behind it? TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
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THEMES: ECONOMIC INJUSTICE Victorian England
A
The Guardian, August 29, 2013, NY, The Eyes of New York Photo by The Guardian contributor
Christmas Carol […] “was an indictment of 19th century capitalism.” Prior to the cra ing of the book, the Luddite Movement had come and gone. This was an effort by many English workers, mainly tradesmen in the wool and tex le industries, to stop the development of Industrializa on in the early 1800s. They did so by destroying or sabotaging the machines. The reac on by these workers was fueled in part by the loss of their trades, the deteriora ng working condi ons in the factories, low wages and the unwillingness of the government to help them. Bri sh jus ce was swi and merciless. Several were hung while others were deported to the penal colonies. Back in the early 1800s when the factories shut down or laid off workers, without much of a safety net in place, the workers had to fend for themselves. Throw in the facts that vagrancy (the lack of a home) was a crime and the inability to pay your debts could land you in debtor’s prison (which had happened to Dickens’ father) along with the situa on of many people no longer able to produce their own food, and ‘Merry Old England’ during that me period was not a pleasant place to reside without work or some other means of support. Modern‐Day America In America today, we are seeing modern‐day injus ces plaguing the work force. This leaves many of our ci zens struggling to afford the essen als, just like the Cratchit family. Fast‐food workers and Walmart employees have been striking to protest low wages, working condi ons and the inability to unionize without the risk of losing their jobs. A former Walmart employee, fired for protes ng, described seeing his co‐workers three days before payday “borrowing money from each other” as they did not have enough money to eat.
CONNECTIONS:
The Guardian, August 29, 2013, NY, The Eyes of New York Photo by The Guardian contributor
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Are these large corpora ons the Scrooges of today? What ‘spirits’ do the companies need to appear before them in order to teach the modern‐day Scrooges how to change their ac ons and give the many Bob Cratchits of the world a figh ng chance to feed their families? What kind of ac ons can we take as individuals and as a community to join those who are figh ng against such large corpora ons?
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
THEMES: PUTTING A FACE ON INJUSTICE
SCROOGE: Spirit, tell me if Tiny Tim will live? SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: I see a vacant seat in the chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die. SCROOGE: No, no. Oh no, kind Spirit! Say he will be spared! SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: What then? If he be like to die, he had be er do it, and decrease the surplus popula on. SCROOGE: Do not mock me. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Forebear un l you know who that surplus is and where it is.
Homeless veteran on the street. Photo by Ma hew Woitunski, 2008. www.commons.wikimedia.org
(Page 63‐64, A Christmas Carol Script Excerpt)
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hroughout A Christmas Carol, Scrooge shows no sympathy for those with less who are in need of help. He describes his philosophy toward the poor as one in which he has no part. Scrooge feels he has enough business of his own to mind that he cannot take on someone else’s. While our immediate reac on to Scrooge’s mentality is one of disapproval and disgust, today it can be all too easy to take on a similar opinion as Scrooge and not even realize it. Whether thinking on quite large terms about our comfortable, Western way of life in a wealthy, democra c na on as compared to our brothers and sisters figh ng for their lives in Egypt or Syria, or on a much smaller scale when we may not take the me to connect with a stranger in need because ‘it’s not our business’ and we don’t want to expend the me and energy required to intervene, we can always catch ourselves ac ng in Scrooge‐like ways. If we disapprove of Scrooge’s ac ons in 19th century England, why do we accept our own in 21st century America? It is not un l Scrooge connects the weak Tiny Tim to those people he considers ‘surplus popula on’ that he begins to understand his own ability to improve their situa on. Is it simply the inability to put a name to those we see suffering that allows us to ignore our own capacity to act as a Scrooge ourselves?
Helping the homeless. Photo by Ed Yourdon, 2008. www.commons.wikimedia.org
CONNECTIONS:
Everyone has a Scrooge inside, how can we iden fy that part of us and ‘convert’ it to good? Did someone or something warn you about a situa on ending up a certain way such as Marley did for Scrooge? Did you listen to them and change your ac ons?
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
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A COUTURE CHRISTMAS
C
heck out the process of a costume designer on A Christmas Carol:
1. Read The Play: First the designers read the script in order to get a sense of the characters, se ng and the me period in which it’s set. All of these elements will affect how they design a costume.
2. Visual Research: Next they do more research about the context of the play. For A Christmas Carol, they would look into the fashions of Victorian England. Throughout the research, the designers iden fy a par cular element of their findings and highlight it as a theme for the costumes. For example, the environmental soo ness of a newly industrialized and factory‐run England may provide inspira on for the coloring and fabrics chosen for the costumes.
Costume Design by Alejo Vie .
3. Renderings: Then the designers draw the costumes onto paper. These drawings are known as renderings of the costume design. These images are then shared with the director of the play who then approves them for the next step: the physical construc on of the costume.
4. Measurements: At this point, the actors' measurements are recorded.
5. Sourcing Fabrics: The designers determine what and how much of the par cular fabrics they want to use. Then they research from where to source the fabrics and buy what is needed.
6. Crea ng the Fabrics: The tailors create the fabrics to be used in the costumes.
7. Paper Designs: The drapers draw and cut out paper designs for the costume.
Alley Theatre Costume Shop. Photo by: Heather Breikjern.
8. Muslin Designs: A mockup of the costume design is created using an inexpensive co on fabric called muslin. By using muslin, the drapers can accommodate the actor's body and make changes to the design without was ng the real fabric for the costumes.
9. Adapted Paper Designs: The tailors fashion the muslin designs back into paper to be used on the actual costume fabrics.
10. First Hand: The first hand places the paper designs onto the real fabric and cuts out each piece. The first hand is the first person to touch the real fabric that will be used on the costumes.
11. S tching: The fabric is given to the s tcher who then sews the fabric pieces together according to the design.
12. Final Changes: The draper then makes any last changes to the fabric pieces before they are cut.
13. Cu ng The Fabric: The first hand then cuts out the design from the real costume fabric. Then they sew together the final costume.
In the 2013 produc on, the Alley is remoun ng a previous version of A Christmas Carol, so while they don't go as far back as the research phase, they try to keep the newly made costumes as consistent with the ini al design as possible.
Elizabeth Bunch as Ghost of Christmas Past in the Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story Resource: Kim Cook, Alley Theatre Costume Design Assistant of Christmas, 2012. Photo by Mike McCormick.
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TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
TWEET THE CHRISTMAS CAROL #’S 2 casts of children roles, red and green cast, each performs every other day,
27 wigs 5 ghostly appari
ons in the show
5-7 loads of dry cleaning for each
2 full weeks of costume cleaning
performance
a er the show's final performance
14 sets of facial hair
50 members of the cast
4-5 loads of laundry for each performance
40-45 loads laundry per week for the two weeks a er the run
100 pairs of shoes
CONNECTIONS: Let’s solve some word problems with the numbers from the show!
Count how many children you see in the show. If you only saw one children’s cast during the performance, but there are two separate casts of children, then how many children are in the en re cast?
There are 50 actors in the show, and most of them play more than one character. If everyone in the cast plays two characters except for Bob Cratchit, Scrooge, and Tiny Tim, then how many roles are there in the en re show?
There are four loads of laundry and five loads of dry cleaning a er each show, and there are eight shows in a week. How many loads of dry cleaning and laundry are done every week? TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts TEKS Applica ons ‐ Mathema cs
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QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS AFTER THE SHOW
Photo by Dana Guthrie. www.commons.wikimedia.org.
1. The director of this produc on has talked about trying to create the “dream‐world” of Scrooge’s mind. What techniques are used in the produc on to suggest a dream world? Do you think the director has succeeded? Why or why not? 2. What role did Marley’s spirit play in Scrooge’s transforma on? Would the three spirits of past, present and future have had the same impact on Scrooge without the presence of Marley? 3. Make a list of Scrooge’s past experiences as a child and a young man. Analyze the life events and determine how they affected his behavior and a tude in the present? 4. Dickens’s work was influenced largely by his lack of faith in the government. Discuss the socio‐economic factors which influenced such works as Oliver Twist and Bleak House. 5. How did Scrooge’s pursuit of wealth impact his rela onship with Belle? What quali es do you look for in a poten al girlfriend or boyfriend? 6. Certain actors play mul ple characters in the show, or two characters are made to resemble each other. Examples include the actor who played Bert, the food vendor, and the Spirit of Christmas Present, as well as the costume of the Spirit of Christmas Past which resembles that of the doll from the doll vendor, Mary Pidgeon. Why might the writer or director have made that choice? What extra meaning does it bring to the characters? 7. What is an “epiphany?” Describe other characters in literature who have had epiphanies.
“I have endeavored in this ghostly li le book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, and with the season, or with me.” — Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
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TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
REFLECTIONS
A
er viewing the Alley Theatre’s produc on of A Christmas Carol, we encourage you and your students to record your expecta ons and reac ons to the play.
Here are some ideas for wri en reflec ons: What parts of the play did you enjoy and why? What are some specific lines you enjoyed and why? How would you have performed one of the roles? What draws you to that character? Do you agree with the choices of the director and designers? What would you have done differently?
Photo by Dr. Mitra Ray, 2011 www.drmitraray.com
ACTIVITY: Consider having students write reviews of A Christmas Carol. Make sure to include technical aspects such as sound and costumes, as well as specific notes on ac ng, plot, and the overall experience of the produc on. For more informa on on wri ng a review, please visit h p://wri ng.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlayReview.html Please email any theatre‐related reviews, poems, scenes and essays by your students to educa on@alleytheatre.org. All ar cles and content of this Companion Guide are wri en and owned by Alley Theatre Educa on and Community Engagement department staff and collaborators. Collaborators for this edi on include Avital Stolar.
“Drama c conven ons offer a safe harbor for trying out the situa ons for life; for experimen ng with expression and communica on; and for deepening human understanding.” — James Ca erall, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, Department of Educa on
TEKS Applica ons‐ Social Studies TEKS Applica ons‐ English Language & Reading TEKS Applica ons‐ Fine Arts
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Happy Holidays from To learn more about Alley Theatre Education programs, visit alleytheatre.org/Education.
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